


Pick 'n' Mix

by 3Minutes4Seconds



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: High School AU, I tried my best, M/M, University AU, alex is only a minor character, but everything is sunshine and peaches in the end, i know nothing about the american schooling system, josh's hair colours change more often than his underwear, some transphobia, trans boy tyler
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 04:30:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8783170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3Minutes4Seconds/pseuds/3Minutes4Seconds
Summary: Tyler has an internal battle trying to decide whether or not he's what Josh really wants. You can guess the answer.ORMark terrorises Tyler until he makes development in his love life.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I had a craving for a Joshler with some trans boy!Tyler, and this was the long awaited result. I'm quite proud of myself.
> 
> Anything in italics is Tyler's thoughts, unless they have a [time] after them in bold, then they're texts.

Tyler and Josh almost went through their entire high school careers without meeting. The key word being almost. For the most part, they flew past each other like adjacent planets orbiting the same sun; always close but never meeting. Olentangy Orange High School had over 1500 students crammed into four grades and with Tyler only spending less than two years there, it kinda limited the opportunities they had to meet each other.

 

Tyler spent his time hanging out with the track team and lusting over the idea of joining the varsity basketball team, and Josh practically led the crowd of music obsessed kids that tapped tunes onto any surface that stayed still for long enough. Most people avoided that group like the plague because of the noise, so they were banished to the music rooms during free periods, for everyone else's sanity. Not that they were complaining. Tyler sat in the cafeteria for lunch; Josh sat on the grass in the quad. Tyler walked home, Josh caught a ride with his friends. Tyler was a nobody and wanted to stay that way. Josh was a nobody trying his best to change that.

  
  


During Tyler's freshman year, Joshua Dun was merely known as the elusive sophomore who was only seen when he was in music class. Somehow the mysterious boy got perfect attendance, but could never seem to be found. Those who knew him personally assumed he was sleeping with whoever ran administration. During Tyler's freshman year, he wasn't even Tyler.

  
  


He was Jess.

  
  


His birth name hung over his head like the end of a noose, or a guillotine, ready to drop the blade at any moment. Every time someone used it it was like a paper cut. One was manageable, but after roll calls and fellow students calling him in the halls by the only name they'd ever known him as, there were enough little cuts to bleed the young boy dry. Other than the boy's seemingly endless suffering under the name he didn't want, Tyler's first year of high school was otherwise uneventful. He kept his head down and his grades up, but his sophomore year didn't go quite so smoothly.

  
  


~

  
  


Over the summer, Tyler was proud to say he grew an inch and a half (emphasis on the 'and a half', which was very important to him), cut his hair to a length he was finally comfortable with and began to experiment with binding. Duct tape ripped his skin and left sore red welts on his shoulders, masking tape slipped off like paper with the slightest bit of sweat and wearing a sports bra and a tank top two sizes too small wasn't enough to flatten his B cups to a shape he was comfortable with.

  
  


So he used bandages. He knew the stories of cracked ribs and breathing problems, but never associated with it. The classic 'it will never happen to me' mindset. On the first morning before sophomore year, he wrapped his chest in front of the bathroom mirror, and once he finished he looked up and smiled weakly at his reflection. It was getting there. He was on a stepping stone, a few more slippery leaps and he might just look the way he should. They way he wish he looked from the day he was born. _Now all I need is a beard_ , he laughed to himself.

  
  


Traipsing through the front gates and through the halls into home room was highly anticlimactic. He assumed people thought he was an new student, because if anyone did recognise him, they weren't saying anything. At least not to his face. He was kind of disappointed, in a twisted sense of the word. After working himself up all night and having three panic attacks over the past two days, he wanted at least one comment on his new appearance to show for it.

  
  


By the time lunch came around, Tyler was riding cloud nine. His teachers had thankfully addressed him as Tyler, which was probably something to do with his fiercely supportive mother emailing the principal instructing him to have his name changed on all of the school records. Rachel from the track team had gone from praising him on his hair and its new potential, to lecturing him on the dangers of home-made binders within the space of five minutes. She was kind of all over the place like that. Tyler realised if he could somehow be able to tolerate how loud and bubbly she was, they would probably be closer friends.

  
  


He was tentatively walking towards the guys toilets when Ryan Cashmore, the captain of the varsity football team, grabbed him roughly by the collar of his shirt and stuffed him to the nearest unlocked locker. All Tyler could do was mumble a string of feeble pleas before he heard the locker door click shut behind him, leaving him cloaked in darkness.

  
  


"No, Ryan, please please don't please I'm sorry please Ryan don't do this, man, please stop, Jesus-"

  
  


"Don't worry, freak show. I'm sure someone will find you before the day is over. Or maybe you'll be spending the night." Tyler twisted inside the locker, trying to face the door, but his hips were too wide and he ended up facing the side, as the locker was deeper than it was wide. He craned his neck to peer out of the grate into the now empty hallway.

  
  


Well shit.

  
  


~

  
  


Two hours came and went, meaning Tyler had missed both his lunch break and his final period, and the owner of this locker didn't come to pick anything up in that time, so Tyler hadn't moved.

  
  


He had pounded on the door throughout lunch, but the sound of rowdy teenagers jostling though the busy halls drowned him out easily, and his voice grew hoarse after a short while. Eyes bleary with angry tears. Throat tight with panic. What if you're in here all night? All week? The kid who owns this locker could be ill. Or suspended. He was on the verge of an anxiety attack. Sweaty palms, racing heart, a horrible ache in the pit of his stomach. He was pulled from his invasive thoughts by a voice down the hall.

  
  


"One second dude, lemme grab my hoodie." The guy yelled, most likely to a fellow student. _Please own this locker, please own this locker,_ Tyler begged silently to himself, or perhaps to God, not that he was much of a believer. If he got out of this locker, he may start going to church on Sundays. He could see a tuft of baby blue hair through the holes in the door, and he edged closer for a better look at his saviour. He began to thump on the door, trying to warn the kind stranger that he now had more in his locker than he did two hours ago.

  
  


The door swung open and Tyler fell right onto the poor guy. He'd been leaning on the door for so long he hadn't clocked what would happen when it finally opened. He rolled off the guy and scrambled away.

  
  


"Holy shi-" Blue hair spluttered, slammed to the floor by some sophomore who fell - from the sky? From his locker? Surely not.

  
  


He barely had time to take a good look at this kid - big brown eyes hooded by a mop of thick caramel curls - when he was climbing off him and bolting it down the hall.

  
  


"Hey, Josh are you okay?" Alex rounded the corner to see his friend sitting on the floor surrounded by the contents of his locker, staring off into the distance at a kid who was speed walking away. Tyler caught the name and made a mental note to apologise next time he saw him. Right now, he had other things on his mind. Like taking that long awaited piss.

  
  


"Yeah man," Josh-with-the-blue-hair said, snapping out of his bemused trance, "I think Cash put a kid in my locker."

  
  


Alex began gathering some of Josh's belongings, "I told you man, you need to start locking it. Unless the guy was cute. Then you need to thank Cash."

  
  


Josh rolled his eyes at the comment, but blushed a little all the same. From what he could tell the mystery boy was cute, but all he saw was pretty eyes and a nice ass running in the opposite direction.

  
  


~

  
  


The next week or so Tyler feigned illness to avoid coming into school, and as if by some cruel fate, he developed a pretty strong cold the day his mom finally forced him to go back to school. Some cruel twisted karma, that was.

  
  


The tormenting didn't stop. The basketball team Tyler once idolised began tormenting him daily, throwing trash at him, shouting his birth name in the halls - among other derogatory words. Tyler started regretting coming out. To think he had crushes on some of those guys in middle school.

  
  


"I can't _do_ this anymore!" He screamed, throwing his school bag at the kitchen wall, officially and quite openly reaching the end of his proverbial tether. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes so he kept them focussed on the floor. He'd spent another hour in a locker today, much to the surprise of the freshman girl that found him. When he went to his own locker, he opened it to find a sea of bras fall out and gather around his feet. The ringing of laughter from his fellow students still rang in his ears.

  
  


"This won't last Ty, soon enough they'll find something else to talk about." His mother spoke in a soothing voice, but her hands shook with anger. It broke her heart to see her son so broken inside.

  
  


"It's not going away. I- I can't. I just can't." He choked. She enveloped her son in a hug, trying to hold the broken pieces together with her small arms. But it was going to take a lot more than a hug from his mom to fix these problems

  
  


~

 

It was a cold, miserable January morning when Tyler's sophomore class were being given a guided tour around Orange High's new state of the art sports facilities. Seeing as he was excused from every phys-ed class to go and run track, which was outside, he would never use the treadmills, the weights or the new 50 meter pool with springboards. This lack of interest was overtaken with how grateful he was to escape Mr Callaghan's double Calculus class.

  
  


“... And here you can see the new pool, which can be heated according to the season. We have three diving boards, all with varying heights, along with lanes for swimming laps. We will be forming a new swim team in the spring.,” Coach Morgan droned on, sounding as bored as Tyler felt.

  
  


“Hey Jessica, fancy a swim?” Before he even acknowledged that comment was being directed at him, Tyler found himself being grabbed under the armpits from behind and dragged towards the edge of the pool. He kicked and yelled to no avail; Ryan's grip was too tight.

  
  


“You boys cut that out!” Coach shouted, pushing his way through the crowd of teens separating him from Tyler and Ryan.

  
  


“Sorry sir,” Ryan smirked, only speaking loud enough for Tyler to hear, “I only see one boy here.”  
  
  


Tyler barely had the time to take a sharp intake of breath before he went crashing downwards. But he had been gripping Ryan's hands awkwardly for balance, so he fell directly downwards instead of forwards, crashing almost every one of his limbs into the wall of the pool, including his head.

  
  


_I wish I was dead._

  
  


Pain shot through his head as he broke through the sheet of plastic that protected the water's surface. It tangled around his legs, preventing him from surfacing. As an act of shock, Tyler inhaled a mouthful of water. His vision began to grow cloudy. He saw a figure jump into the pool after him. _Maybe Ryan has come to finish me off._ Tyler breathed in another mouthful of water, deciding to help Ryan along a bit. Then it all went black.

  
  


~

  
  


“Hey kid, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes for me?” A voice caught Tyler's attention, pulling him to consciousness, “What's his name again? Taylor?”

  
  


He could hear mumbled conversation in the background. Chlorine stung his eyes, so he blinked rapidly to regain some sight. The person talking to him was kneeling beside him. Was that... Blue hair? No. A black hair, and a blue hat. A beanie.

  
  


“Oh thank god, you're awake.” The girl smiled kindly, “No, Tyler, don't try to get up. The paramedics are on their way now.”

  
  


“No... No paramedics.” He croaked. The girl averted her eyes from his, ignoring his comment. He recognised her as a girl from his home room, Amy. She must be a qualified first aider if she's doing this instead of a teacher.

  
  


“I need to cut these bandages off your chest so you can breathe properly. You need to tell me if there's going to be bleeding so I can stop it. What are the bandages for, Tyler?”

  
  


Tyler looked up at the kind girl, blushing furiously. He glanced around to see who else was there. Coach Morgan, sopping wet – _he must've pulled me out_ , Tyler thought. Vice Principal Kinney, an older woman with salt and pepper hair, and Rachel, looking more scared than Tyler had ever seen anyone look.

  
  


“It's uh, the bandages...” He mumbled, averting his eyes to the ceiling to avoid the pitying look in Rachel's eyes, “I'm binding my chest. There isn't any bleeding.”

  
  


Thankfully, Amy cut the bandages from under his t-shirt, preventing the others from seeing his now exposed chest. It could have been worse, at least the rest of his class had left. He silently blessed this girl. An angel in a beanie and a vintage Metallica shirt. She rest her folded up hoodie on the floor under Tyler's head and kept him conscious until the ambulance arrived, then she was whisked off to her next class. Tyler made a mental note to thank her next time he saw her, and buy her lunch for her or something.

  
  


~

  
  


“I won't have this blatant discrimination, Richard! I'll go to the board with this!” To think the one person Tyler had feared coming out to was his mother, who had now turned into a human hurricane, channelling the full force of her rage at Coach Morgan directly outside his hospital room.

  
  


Once Tyler had arrived, the doctors checked him over pretty swiftly. Minor concussion, probably a bit of fluid in his lungs. He was quite well off for someone who nearly drowned. They had been more concerned about the bruising on his ribs, and the nurse gave him a funny look when he asked for some bandages. Amy must have told the paramedics about the binding.

  
  


“It's out of my hands now, Mrs Joseph. I am not saying that I agree with the principal, but it's up to him to decide a fitting punishment for Mr Cashmore-”

  
  


“And one week's suspension is not enough! He almost killed my son!”

  
  


Tyler zoned out after that, taking a well earned nap on the itchy sheets of the hospital bed, dreaming of blue haired boys, angels donning Metallica shirts and a binder that isn't trying to kill him.

  
  


~

  
  


Transferring to Thomas Worthington High was the best decision Tyler made in his life. Second best decision, according to his best friend Mark, who was convinced Tyler's best decision was making friends with him.

  
  


The class of 2014 threw their grad caps in the air, whooping and cheering in celebration. Tyler had been glad that he petitioned against the banning of graduation caps, until one smacked him in the face and almost blinded him.

  
  


Mark, of course, found this hilarious, but his laughter was cut short by the sudden appearance of the vice principal.

  
  


“Mr Eshleman, congratulations on your college placement. Mr Joseph, I take it you will continue to keep a close eye on your... erratic friend.”

  
  


“Of course, sir.” Tyler said, rubbing the newly formed red mark on his forehead. Whatever possessed him to agree to go to the same college as Mark freaking Eshleman?!

  
  


“Carnegie Mellon, here we come bitches!” Mark hollered, running about in circles. Tyler followed him and the rest of the graduates through the halls, whooping and shouting, thankful to escape high school. Whoever said they were the best years of your life obviously wasn't an introverted trans gay guy whose only talent is long distance running.

  
  


~

  
  


Trust Josh to be late on his first day back at college. He'd turned off all of his alarms after returning home for the summer. His lecture was available to listen to online, but it was besides the point. He hadn't seen his classmates in over two months, and his lecturer was the funniest guy he'd ever met. Second maybe to that weird guy in the student union who was constantly cracking jokes. Matt or Mike or something.

  
  


As he pondered the name of the strange guy whilst simultaneously trying to juggle coffee and his bag, he stopped looking where he was going and smacked straight into the chest of a curly haired guy on a pennyboard. Josh went crashing down under this guy, whose feet flew from under him, scooting his pennyboard into a nearby bush.

  
  


He had a face full of scruffy stubble and curly caramel hair, with big brown eyes peeking from underneath. If Josh wasn't winded beyond belief and struggling to remember his own name, he'd probably flirt with him.

  
  


“We have to stop meeting like this.” Pennyboard guy smirked down at him, lifting himself off a shell shocked Josh and dusting himself off. _Did he say keep meeting?!_ The guy held out a hand to help him up, but Josh stared at it like it was a foreign object about to probe his nostril.

  
  


Pennyboard guy grabbed his flyaway board from the bush, readjusted the bag on his back, turned to wink at Josh, and glided away, leaving Josh bewildered and strewn across the pavement. Josh found his great ass running away from him was strangely familiar.

  
  


_Wait a second. Was that the locker kid?!_

  
  


~

  
  


“And you didn't even give him your number?” Mark almost screamed at him.

  
  


“No, but I winked at him!” Tyler exclaimed, too proud of himself.

  
  


“No, sorry, I'm not letting this go,” Hayley interjected, “You saw a cute boy from your past, crashed into him, spilt his coffee, and didn't even, like, take your shirt off to mop it up off him or something?!”

  
  


“My life is not a fanfiction, Hayley.” He grumbled. Why did they have to kill his vibes? He'd winked at a cute guy! This was major progress in the disaster that was Tyler's love life. Hayley was one of Mark and Tyler's flatmates at Carnegie, and spent a lot of her time in their room, hiding from her room-mate, who was trying to convert her to Mormonism or something. “And besides, from the past of not, he didn't recognise me. Why would he? Since I last saw him, I've had over two years of T injections, top surgery and have successfully grown facial hair!”

  
  


“What's the progress with Susan?” Tyler asked, quickly changing the subject before Mark brought sex into the conversation.

  
  


“Still trying to move into same sex halls. She's deemed you two sinners you know.”

  
  


“What have I ever done to deserve that?!” Mark gasped in mock hurt. Tyler cocked a single eyebrow in protest; he knew stories about Mark Eshleman that could make even the most damaged hair curl.

  
  


“You, sir, are filth.” Hayley chuckled, and they left it at that.

  
  


~

  
  


Tyler was in a lecture, his last of the week, when his phone blew up with texts from Hayley. Thankfully it was on silent, so he snuck out of the room into the hallway to see what she was freaking out about.

  
  


From: Hayleeeeee<3<3<3

_RED ALERT SUSAN HAS LEFT THE BUILDING_ _**[12:31]** _

_Well not literally, but she's literally packing her bags as we speak._ _**[12:31]** _

_I s2g Tyler this is the best day oml !!_ _**[12:32]** _

_We are sooooo celebrating this tonite_ _**[12:32]** _

_grab Eshleman and meet me at the bar at 8 I kno ur schedule u can't say no_ _**[12:34]** _

_She keeps looking over at me I think she wants me to be sad about this lmao_ _**[12:36]** _

  
  


_If you know my schedule you should know I am IN A CLASS RIGHT NOW_ _**[12:37]** _

_Ding dong the witch is dead tho amirite_ _**[12:38]** _

_My old friends are in town can they come???_ _**[12:38]** _

_Sure, the more the merrier._ _**[12:39]** _

_Ty - I think Susan stole your lava lamp._ _**[12:43]** _

  
  


~

  
  


McCluskey's was a dingy bar on the corner of campus, but it has cheap beer and doesn't card, so it made it the go-to place for many Carnegie students.

  
  


“To Susan the Sin Labeller! May she find peace in her convent, and never darken our doorstep again! Unless she's bringing back Tyler's lava lamp.” Mark hollered, raising his glass high above his head, letting it splash on the heads of his begrudging friends.

  
  


“To Susan!” They all laughed, mopping Mark's rum and coke from their faces and heads.

  
  


“So did she actually move to a convent?” Rachel asked.

  
  


“No, I think she said something about finding a flat full of Christian girls to move into, to avoid the sins of Tyler and Mark.”

  
  


Rachel and Amy had joined them for the weekend, driving down from Ohio State to visit Tyler and see how he was doing in his first year away from home. He kept in contact with them after leaving Olentangy High all those years ago and held great pride in knowing it was because of his dramatic trip to the hospital in his sophmore year that had led to their relationship. They were the ultimate power couple, the picture of romance and girl power. Tyler couldn't stomach to look at them on most days.

  
  


“Tyler,” Mark muttered, nudging his friend in the arm, “Isn't that Josh-with-the-red-hair-that-used-to-be-blue?”

  
  
“That name is getting longer by the da- oh shit that's him hide me!” Tyler shrieked, trying to duck under the bar stool. Josh was sat at a small table amongst way too many people to fit around it. Tyler was drawn to the sound of his laugh, throwing his head back and squeezing his eyes shut at something one of his friends had said. He was undeniably gorgeous, or maybe it was just the alcohol making Tyler think that. Then again, his friends seemed to agree with him, and only two of them liked guys. Red hair peeked out from under a black beanie, and Tyler deemed the boy 200% more attractive when he noticed Josh was wearing a Beasties Boys shirt, _ohmygod, cute_ and _a good taste in music!_

  
  


“You should go talk to him.” How was it Amy always knew what Tyler was thinking?

  
  


“Pfft yeah right.” Tyler rolled his eyes. As if he was going to make a move on probably straight, sex god Josh. He'd be lucky to get a laugh in the face, or another bewildered look, like he had when he'd offered him a hand up.

  
  


“I mean, look at him. Look at me. He's _him,_ and I'm, well. You know.” Tyler grimaced and took another mouthful of his beer. Unbeknownst to him, Josh had now noticed Tyler and his group of misfits, and was unashamedly checking out his ass where he stood leaning over the bar, giving Josh a perfect view.

  
  


“Your lack of self appreciation and overall self consciousness is unhealthy, and honestly it's tiring. You're hot, just accept it. Now go get the boy!” Rachel laughed. She was right, Tyler had evolved greatly from that lanky freshmen she met all those years ago, since then he had started testosterone, . He was tall, tan and more muscular than he'd give himself credit for.

  
  


“You'd probably have a boyfriend if you weren't so socially inept. You're actually incapable of talking to new people.”

  
  


“Wow. Thanks Amy.”

  
  


“Any time.” And with thank, Tyler slumped over the bar like an aged alcoholic and ignored the witty conversation his so called friends were having at the expense of his lack of sex life. _Mental note: get better friends._

  
  


“You owe me a drink, you know.” Tyler looked up, suddenly finding he had company.

  
  


“I-I uh...”

  
  


“You spilt my chai latte across the pavement, and I didn't have time to get another one. Don't think I've forgotten about that! I'm Josh, by the way.” The smaller boy flashed a charming smile, holding out a hand for Tyler to shake. Now it was his turn to look back at him dumbfounded. Tyler hadn't had to wear a binder in almost five months but that familiar tight feeling in his chest began to make a reappearance.

  
  


“Hello? Anyone home?” Josh smiled that million-dollar smile and Tyler was reduced to a stuttering mess. What happened to the flirty guy he crashed into on the street?

  
  


“Sorry about my friend here, he's quite shy. I'm Mark.” Mark shook Josh's lingering hand, and Tyler had never been more glad to see his best friend in his life, “Mr. Mumbles over there is Tyler, but I think you've already met.”

  
  


Okay maybe he wasn't that glad.

  
  


“You're the guy who crashed the student union party in a kilt last month! Dude, that was so awesome.” Josh exclaimed, suddenly recognising Mark. Tyler took a shuddered breath of relief, grateful to no longer be the centre of Josh's attention, that he knew of. But Josh was routinely glancing back at Tyler, and Mark noticed. And was chuckling internally because of it.

  
  


“So,” Josh drawled, leaning towards Tyler, “About that drink.”

  
  


“You really aren't letting up, are you?”

  
  


“No, I'm really not. Jack and Coke please.” Josh grinned, batting his eyelashes at the younger boy. Tyler sighed deeply, and raised his hand to get the barman's attention. The ageing man walked over with a look of contempt on his face. He's obviously grown tired of college students over the years.

  
  


“Another beer, whatever those girls want,” Tyler asked, indicating to Hayley, Rachel and Amy who were talking animatedly a few feet away, “... And a jack and coke.” He added reluctantly, laughing a little.

  
  


Josh grinned like all his Christmases had come at once, and Tyler made a mental note to buy Josh Dun drinks more often, if it meant seeing a smile like that.

  
  


“What was that?” Josh raised his voice over the general chatter that crowded the room. Maybe Tyler didn't say that in his head after all.

  
  


“Nothing,” Tyler replied, blushing profusely, “Just talking to myself.” _I am such an idiot. He's gonna think I'm a psycho that talks to myself on the regular._

  
  


“I do that too, sometimes. But only when I need expert advice.” Josh chuckled.

  
  


After the ice was thoroughly broken, the pair spent the night huddled together talking, away from their friends. They spoke of memories from Olentangy High (Tyler left out almost drowning) and what happened there after Tyler transferred. They talked about Ohio, and the quirks of their home town, whilst buying each other endless drinks. Before they knew it they were on the dance floor. Some R Kelly song came on and Tyler was being forcibly dragged to the floor by both Josh and Hayley, tag teaming him into unwillingly dancing like an absolute fool.

  
  


Song after song played and Tyler came to accept that they weren't going to stop dancing. Alcohol clouded his senses and he found himself grinding on someone, _god knows who. Probably Mark._

  
  


~

  
  


Tyler woke the next morning, miraculously back in his own bed. His head pounded like someone hitting a steel drum and every one of his joints ached. He would not be drinking again any time soon.

  
  


The last thing he remembered was giving nicknames to all his friends and grinding on what was most likely some hapless stranger. Some angel (it turned out to have been Hayley) had left him a glass of water on his desk. After glugging it down as if it were his last lifeline, he decided to grace humanity, and go in search for his friends. He'd woken alone in the room that he usually shared with Mark, who he found asleep on what used to be Susan's bed. Rachel and Amy had gone to a nearby motel. Hayley was sat at the kitchen counter, wearing sunglasses and sipping a cup of tea.

  
  


“Nice sunglasses.” He chuckled, nodding at her choice of head wear.

  
  


“Your lights man, I can't handle it.” She replied groggily, obviously also hungover. Slowly Mark arose to join them, looking like he'd risen from the dead.

  
  


Each of them nursed a hot drink whilst Mark cooked bacon on the grill, claiming it to be some miraculous cure for all hangover ailments; “So Tyler, I can't believe you actually got some last night.”

  
  


Suddenly Tyler was spitting coffee across the breakfast counter. “I'm sorry what?”

  
  


“That Josh guy! You were talking one minute, and grinding on the dance floor the next. I think he put your number in his phone too.” Tyler sprang into action, grabbing his phone off the couch and flicking through his most recent texts.

  
  


“Who the fuck is 'Spooky Jim'?”

  
  


“I think that's the nickname you gave him,” Hayley barked out a laugh, “You were giving them out to everyone last night. I think you called the barman 'angry goatee'. Mine was flame head.” Tyler took his chance and retreated to his bedroom, ready to die of embarrassment from what he'd texted the previous night.

  
  


_From: Spooky Jim_

_Its'a mee, Spooopy Jim **[23:17]**_

_Spoopy* **[23:17]**_

_Fuck **[23:18]**_

_Spooky** **[23:18]**_

_There we go **[23:19]**_

_Was nice dancinf w u tonigt **[23:38]**_

_Yous a good ancer **[23:41]**_

_Thanks bb ;)))) **[23:43]**_

_You weren't too bad youself,that grinding was onpoint **[23:44]**_

_There was more where tha came from mateyyy **[23:46]**_

  
  


“Matey?! When did I turn into a fucking pirate?” Tyler exclaimed loudly, catching the attention of his now worried flatmates, who then joined him in his room.

  
  


The trio sat there in awkward silence, the only noise was Tyler groaning face down into his pillow, with Mark sitting beside him patting his back sympathetically. Hayley sat cross legged on the floor. If Tyler was in the right state of mind he might've apologised for the lack of floor space for Hayley, or the lack of a chair, but he wasn't in any state of mind, so he didn't. She could've sat on Mark's bed, but even she wasn't that brave.

  
  


"Is he straight?" Hayley spoke up, finally drawing her attention away from the notepad in her hands. Bloody songwriters and their bloody... song-writing. Probably writing a ballad about Tyler's current state of absolute misery and hungover-ness. Tyler rose from his previous position to sit on his bed, grabbing an apple juice box and some painkillers from his beside table.

  
  


"No I'm pretty sure he's bi. I think he started the GSA at Orange High the year before I started." Tyler sighed, exasperated. He punctured the hole with such vigour the juice splashed out of the straw and into his eye. His life was getting better and better by the minute.

  
  


"Well, his instagram bio says 'flagrant bisexual'. And he plays drums! Where have you been hiding this boy?"

  
  


"Jesus, Mark please stop stalking the guy. You're only making this worse." Tyler groaned, slapping Mark's phone out of his hands, causing it to bounce onto the floor and skid under Tyler's bed.

  
  


“I'll never see that again...” Mark muttered, mournfully watching it disappear from sight into the darkened pit that was Tyler's hoard of junk.

  
  


"But if he's bi what's the problem?" Hayley interjected.

  
  


It sounded considerably more stupid when Tyler said it out loud, "He likes guys that are like - 100% a guy. With a guy face and a guy body. And he's dated cis chicks. But... I'm not like that. I've got _other_ parts. Don't make me say it out loud! I just don't know how he'd react to... that. Hell, I don't know how _anyone_ will react to that. That's why I'm perpetually single."

  
  


"So the boy likes the occasional chocolate bar. And he likes pudding cups," Mark smirked, giggling to himself before he'd even shared the punchline, "but you want to know if he likes pick n mix."

  
  


"Shut the fuck up, you absolute tool." Tyler snapped, throwing his juice carton at the older boy's head.


End file.
